The one responsibility that comes with owning a Betta fish--aside from not showing it a mirror--is cleaning its bowl semi-regularly, lest the glass should get so grimy as to interfere with your mean-spirited attempts to show it a mirror anyway. Yet somehow, that one menial responsibility evolves into a pain so enormous in your ass that you: put it off; try to get your mom to do it; convince yourself it's not THAT dirty; and, finally, take a moment to consider your pathetic inaction, only to realize that instead of dying from battling his own reflection, your poor fish has died from choking on the fat mass of algae consuming his home. Damn. On the bright side, at least dumping things in the toilet and flushing it is like Top 5 on the list of things you actually enjoy doing.

On the brighter side, aquatic whippersnappers Craig Wenger and David Turover can save your Siamese fighter from his retirement to the municipal sewer system, and you from the monumental inconvenience of taking care of a pet, with their simple, elegant, eco-friendly self-cleaning aquarium. Instead of doing complete bowl scrub-downs and water changes every week...or month...or so...leave Brutus and his habitat in place, and just pour a fresh glass of water into the vessel every couple of days. As the new water enters the aquarium, it pushes the dirtied water up and out a pipe extending from the container's base. A second cup catches the old stuff on the flip side. The whole process takes about 60 seconds, which, coincidentally, is also the attention span and timed tolerance for work of the average child between the ages of 2 and 18. So, great gift idea for your kids!

Capacity is about half a gallon, and aquarium dimensions are 4.25" x 4.25" x 11.6". Pursuant to a resoundingly successful Kickstarter campaign, they guys have launched a full-scale production of their tanks, available via their Website, No Clean Aquariums, or through Amazon.